I thought I had closed my book on Deanston but what do you know – research is never finished as there is always something new or overlooked. In ...
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You start with an interest in whisky but before you know it you are looking at cotton and the rise of the factory system. How can this happen? Even if...
Read MoreArkwright and Deanston
I never promised that this blog would be in any way current. Never promised to keep my finger on the pulse or provide hot takes. Instead I am m...
Read MoreDeanston
Outside the Talisker distillery there is a hut that sells good coffee and tray bakes. This morning, having driven up from Fort William and allowing pl...
Read MoreThe Talisker Chicken
One of the great post-war writers on architecture and the built environment was Ian Nairn. He was passionate, idiosyncratic, and angry, especia...
Read MoreWhat Would Nairn Have Thought
I haven’t been to the Isle of Wight for very many years and maybe it has changed so it is now all artisan bakeries and hipster bars. But when...
Read MoreLooking Backwards at Ben Nevis
How much are you willing to pay for your whisky? How much extra are you willing to pay for an incremental gain in flavour and quality? I ask because w...
Read MoreHow Much Will You Pay
I’m sitting, overlooking the harbour eating fish and chips. In front of me a heron gull is perched on a railing and I am looking into his cold, blac...
Read MoreIn the Centre of Oban
These standing stones at Glengorm are just a few miles away from Tobermory distillery. Mull as an island is rich in standing stones and stone circles,...
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